Process for producing links for machine gun belts and similar articles



Sept. 5, 1944. c. F. SHERMAN 2,357,558

PROCESS FOR PRODUCING LINKS FOR MACHINE GUN BELTS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES Original Filed July 6, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l C. SHERMA PROCESS P UCING LINK OR MACHINE G E AND SIMILAR ARTICLES I igin Filed July 6, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 62 i w I in Sept. 5, 1944. c. F. SHERMAN 2,357,558

PROCESS FOR PRODUCING LINKS FOR MACHINE GUN BELTS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES Original Filed July 6, .1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 m I I I w v/ 25 /fl\ 3a "a j/ I 7 7, m \x w 5 y 4 ORA/FY Sept. 5, l9. v

' PROCESS FOR PRODUCING LINKS FOR MACHINE GUN BELTS AND .SIMILAR ARTICLES Original Filed JulyB, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet;

c F. SHERMAN 2,357,558

Patented Sept. 5, 1944 PROCESS FOR PRODUCING LINKS FOR MACHINE GUN BELTS AND SIMILAR ARTI- CLES Cortis F. Sherman, West Hartford, Conn, assignor to The Henry & Wright Manufacturing Company, Hartford, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Original application July 6, 1940, Serial No. 344,246. Divided and this application May 10,

1941, Serial No. 392,898-

11 Claims. ('Cl. 59-8) My invention relates to a process for rapidly producing links for machine gun belts and similar articles in an efficient and economical manner which utilizes a minimum amount of stock and thereby efiects a saving in this respect.

One form of a machine embodying my invention and in the use of which my improved process may be carried out and the objects herein set out, as well as others, may be attained is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a die holder and parts mounted thereon.

Figure 2 is an end view of the same and includin a portion of the punches.

Figure 3 is a side view looking from the left in Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a view in section on a plane denoted by the broken line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a view in section on a plane denoted b the broken line 5-5 of Fig, 1.

Figure 6 is a view on enlarged scale in section on a plane denoted by the broken line 66 of Fig. 1.

Figure 7 is a similar view on a plane denoted by the broken line l'! of Fig. 1.

Figure 8 is another similar View in section on a plane denoted by the broken line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

Figure 9 is a perspective view illustrating the progressive movements of the blanks during formation by the punches and dies, the latter being omitted.

Figure 10 is a bottom view of the punch.

The figures above described are the same as those embodied in applicants co-pending application S. No. 344,246, filed July 6, 1940, which has issued as Patent No. 2,266,997, dated December 23, 1941, and from which this case is a division.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 8 denotes the die holder of my improved machine which may be utilized in the practice of my improved method and which holder it will be understood is mounted on a bolster or bed in a manner common to machines of this type. A cam shaft 9 is suitably mounted in bearings II3-| 1 upon the die holder 8 and is driven by means of a gear 12 meshed with a driving gear [3, the latter being driven from any suitable source of power as a connection with a crank shaft in the lower part of the machine.

A guide block I4 is supported upon the die holder 8 and a blanking die I5 is mounted upon the guide block as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. A stripper plate I6 is secured atop the die I5 in a manner common to structures of this type. A feed slide I1 is mounted for reciprocating sliding movement upon the guide block as between gibs I8 a feed finger plate l9 being secured to the feed slide that has feed fingers 2U- spaced apart and projecting from the inner edge thereof. The feed slide is operated as by means of a feed lever 2| pivotally mounted upon and supported by the die holder 8, one end of the lever being pivotally attached to the feed slide and the opposite end of said lever being engaged with a feed cam 22 secured to the cam shaft, as shown in Fig, 1 of the drawings.

A blank strip 23 is fed in any suitable manner common to machines of this type over the top of the blanking die I5, and a punch 24 operates with the die in a manner common to machines of this type, the punch being secured to a punch holder 25 mounted for vertical reciprocating movement in a manner not herein shown but which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The punch operates to cut a blank 26 from the strip 23 and in the embodiment shown herein forces it through the die It into a guide groove 21 in the guide block l4 and into the path of the feed fingers 20 by means of which the blanks 26 are passed along the groove underneath the die I 5 to a position to be hereinafter described.

A forming die 28 is mounted upon the die holder 8, this die having a pair of rounded forms 2930 spaced apart on its top, these forms merging into side forms 3i on the sides of the top of the die. Sliding formers 32 are mounted for sliding movement upon the die holder 8, these formers being spring pressed apart as shown in Fig. '7. They have recesses 33 to engage opposite sides of the blank upon the die 28. A plunger 34 supported on the punch holder 25 has recesses cooperating with the rounded forms 29--30, said plunger and sliding formers cooperating to impart a preliminary form to the blanks, as shown in Fig. '7. The sliding formers 32 and the plunger 34 are so relatively timed in their movements that the recesses 35 in the plunger engage the blank upon the forms 293ll before the recesses 33 on the sliding formers 32 engage the blank upon the side forms 3|. The plunger 34 is yieldingly held by means of springs 36 which act during the preliminary movement of the plunger to press the sides 31 of the blanks downwardly into a position opposite the recesses 33, and in the final movement of the plunger 34 the upper end of the plunger strikes the under side of the punch holder 25 and the blanks are then positively seated upon the forming die 28. The sliding formers 32 are operated by former actuating cams 38 upon former actuators 39 secured to and projecting from the under side of the punch holder 25 as shown in Figures 7 and 10, the cams 38 being positioned'to impart movement to the formers .32 after the sides 3-! of the blanks have been bent downwardly to clear the formers as hereinbefore described. The formers are provided on opposite sides with guide ribs 40 to engage grooves in the end of the guide block I4 and in a former die M to be hereinafter described. The sliding formers 32 are spring pressed apart as by means of springs 42 located in recesses in the bottoms .of the formers, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. '7.

After the blanks are stamped to shape and are forced through the blanking die I when this form of machine is employed the feed fingers 20 are moved forward by the operation of the lever 2| to push the blanks on to the forming die 28 where a preliminary form is given to said blanks in the manner hereinbefore described. Projecting from the feed slide vI! underneath the feed .fingers 120 and extending through a raised part .of the guide block l4 are pusher rods 43 which contact with the edges of the partially formed blanks onthe forming-die28 and push saidblanks :from said forming die on to forming fingers =44-45 projecting from a finger supporting slide '46 mountedupon a slide-support 41. The form- .ing fingers are arranged in pairs and there are "two sets of said pairs projecting from the slide 46. Each finger 44.is arranged to receive a single knuckle 48 on one side'of the 'linkand each finger 45 is arranged to receive double knuckles 49 on the opposite side of the link, it being understood that when these linksare assembled to formthe 1 bell; the cartridges :form the pintles extending through the links 48-49.

The former die 4| has a pair of preliminary forming cavities 50-5-| preferably arranged intermediate the ends-of the die and on opposite sides equally spaced therefrom a pair of final forming cavities comprising .recesses 52--53. The .pairs of cavities last mentionedare of the same general shape andperformthe same functions.

A guide 54 is formed on opposite sides of each pair of cavities '-50-.5| constituting the finishing sectionfor-thepurposeof guiding the blanks .down into said cavities and-impartinga curved form thereto to curl them around the'fingers 4445. This givesa .second'preliminaryshape to each of the blanks by the action of a preliminary forming section-55 on a-punch '56 supported and actuated by the same punch holder25 as is the punch orplunger -34. The .shape of each of .the blanks is now nearly completed and requires only a final setting to complete the form. This is effectedby finishing sections 5-! on the punch-56, said finish- :ingsections being located on opposite sides of the forming section '55 and operating alternately on blanks supported on the two sets of forming .fingers 44-45, the finished forming being effected by one section .51 of the punch on one of the sets 44-45 of the forming fingers While the next preceding form is'being .given on the other set of said forrningfingers. .That is, .in'a'single downward movement ofthe punch holder 25 a blank 26 is cut by the punch 24 from the strip 23, a blank is .partially formed to shape :by the punch 34:0:1 the forming -die 28, another preliminary :shapeiseffected by action of the formingsection .55 of the punch 56 on'one of the pairs of fingers 44 and 45 anda final and setting form producing thefinished blank-83 (see Fig. 4) is'given by one .of the finishing sections 51 0f the punch 56 .on the other .pair of said forming fingers 44-45, it

being noted that when this finishing operation is performed on one of the sets of forming fingers 44-45 the next preceding step is taking place .on the other of said sets. The former die 4| has a preliminary forming section 58 cooperating with the forming section 55 of the punch 56 and two finishing die sections 59 comprising the recesses 5253 located on opposite sides of the section 58 and to cooperate with the sections 51 of the punch 56.

To effect this alternate operation upon the blanks .upon the .two sets of forming fingers 44-45 the latter are supported upon and project from "a .supportingslide 46 mounted upon a resiliently supportedslide base 41 seated on springs 62 mounted onguide pins 63 for guiding the movements of the base 41, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, said pins projecting upwardly from the die holder 8. Reciprocating sliding movement is imparted to the slide 46 by means of a .stud 64 .projectingfrom the side of the slide with a slide reciprocating .rod :65 pivotally attached to saidstud at one end and itsopposite end bearing a roller located in .acamgroove in a slide reciprocating cam-.66,-the rodhaving a slot through which va pin :61 from the cam 66 projects in a manner common to'connections'of this .type. The .cam -66lis secured to a shaft 68 mounted in a bearing .69 projecting upwardly from the die holder -8 and having a gear 1-0 meshing with a pinion FH secured to the cam shaft -9, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the gears and pinions being timed to impart properareciprocating movement to the slide, thatis, to locate the forming fingers in their extremepositions for operation of the punches upon the blanks on the fingers when such punches descend forsuch operation.

The forming fingers with the blanks partially formed thereon are :finally located in the depressions in the'die 4l by means of plungers 12 extending from within sockets in posts 13 projecting downwardly from :the punch holder 25, as shown in Figs- 4 and 5 of the drawings. These @plungers are spring seated within the sockets and as the punch holder ;moves..down'the lends-of the ,plungers strike :the upper surface ;of the slide supporting base 4-! :and push it downwardly against the upper side of the die holder 8 and against .the tensionof thesprings 62, there being four-of the plungers, twolocated at each end of the slide supporting base 41, the four springs against which the .plungers are seated being strong enough to resist the tension of the two springs 62 and therefore suflicient to compress the latter. This permits continuation of downward .movement of the punch 56 to finish its operation afterthe fingers with the blanks thereon are seated in the recesses in the die 4|.

.After the blanks are finally formed upon 'the fingers ashereinbefore described, they are ejected fromsaid fingers by means of ejectors "I4 slidablymounted in the supporting slide and operating against .the blanks intermediate their ends to .push them off from the pins and into chutes '15 along which they are moved by contact with the succeeding blanks-to a point of discharge .downwardly through the -die holder 8 when this manner of discharge is employed, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. .A forked finger16 projects upwardly from each slide inposition to receive between the branchesejector-actuating pins vll extending towardzeac'h otherfrom the ends of .ejector actuating arms 18 secured to and pro- :jecting downwardly from an ejector actuating shaft 19 mounted'dn 'bearingson the upper ends of standards 80 projecting upwardly from the die holder 8 at opposite ends of the slide base 47, as shown in Figs. and 6 of the drawings. A rocking motion is imparted to the shaft by means of a shaft actuating arm 8| extending downwardly from the shaft and having a roller at its free end engaged in a groove in an ejector operating cam 82 supported on the main shaft 9,-as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the cam being shaped to impart an ejecting movement 'to the ejectors immediately following the completion of the formation of the blanks. As shown in Fig. 5 the forked fingers 76 on the two ejectors are alternately engaged with an actuator pin 1'! as the supporting slide 66 is moved from side to side.

From the foregoing description embodying a progressive explanation of the operation it will be seen on referring to Fig. 9 that the blanks 26 successively cut from the blank strip 23 are moved from the position a by operation of the feeding fingers into the position b where they are given a preliminary form by means of the punch 34 acting in connection with the forming die 28. From the position b the partially formed blanks are moved by the pusher rods 43 into position 0 and on to a pair of forming fingers -45, In this position the forming punch 56 acting in connection with the die 4! imparts a further form to the blanks approximating the finished form. From position 0 the pins with the blanks thereon are moved to one of the positions 11 at one side of the position c where the final formation of the blanks takes place and from which they are ejected as hereinbefore described, it being noted that the operations at the two positions (1 take place alternately, that is, the succeeding blanks are moved alternately first from the position 0 to one position d and second from position 0 to the other position d.

It will be noted that as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 8 the plungers 12 in theirraised positions are spaced from the slide support 41 so that downward movement of the punch 56 will encounter the blanks on the fingers 45 before downward movement of the slide support 4'! begins. This will cause the opposite edges of the blank to contact the guides 54 and be certainly curled under the forming fingers before downward movement of such fingers begins.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I have described the principles of operation of my invention, together with the device which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof; but I desire to have it understood that the device shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set out.

I claim:

1. A process for forming cartridge belt links each having knuckles at opposite edges, said process consisting in placing blanks successively upon the end of a forming die and there bending the knuckle portions into partially knuckle form, then successively placing said blanks alternately upon sets of forming fingers and thereupon completing the formation of the knuckles by movement of the sets of fingers with the blanks thereon alternately to opposite and different positions lengthwise of the blanks and thereat setting the knuckles in their final shape.

2. A process for forming cartridge belt links having knuckles at opposite edges, said process consisting in placing a blank having prongs and a shank comprising knuckle portions at opposite edges upon the end of a forming die and partially bending said knuckles thereon and simultaneously therewith bending the knuckle portions of a similarly shaped blank into further partially knuckle form and subsequently successively completing the formation of said knuckles by successive 'operations alternately on said blanks in opposite and different positions.

3. A process for forming cartridge belt links from blanks each having knuckle portions at opposite edges that consists in partially bending the knuckle parts out of the plane of the blanks and toward each other with the opposite edges curled inwardly, then curling said knuckle parts around a pair of forming fingers in one position, then moving one blank mounted on said fingers to another position to complete formation by setting the knuckle parts to final form and placing another blank on a pair of duplicate fingers in the position first occupied by the first pair-of fingers, and then continuing the operation with other blanks successively placed upon said fingers. 4. A process for forming a cartridge belt link having knuckles at opposite edges, said process consisting in cutting in one position a blank from a strip of material, said blank having knuckle portions located at opposite edges of said strip, moving said blank in a direction widthwise of the strip on to a forming die on the upper end of a supporting post, partially forming the knuckle portions on said die, then moving the partially formed blank on to a pair of rigidly spaced forming fingers with the partially formed knuckle portions upon said fingers, and then completing the formation of the blank on said fingers.

5. A process for forming a cartridge belt link having knuckles at opposite edges, said process consisting in cutting in one position a blank from a strip of material, said blank having knuckle portions located at opposite edges of the strip, moving said blank on to a former die comprising an enlargement on the upper end of a die supporting post, partially forming the knuckle portions of said blank on said die and bending the opposite edges underneath said enlargement, then sliding the partially formed blank off from said enlargement on to a pair of rigidly spaced forming fingers with the partially formed knuckle portions upon said fingers, and then completing the formation of the blank on said fingers,

6. A process for forming cartridge belt links having knuckles at opposite edges, said process consisting in cutting in one position blanks from a strip of material, said blanks each having knuckle portions located at opposite edges thereof, moving said blanks from the cutting position on to a forming die of rounded formation and partially forming the blanks thereon, then moving the blanks from said die on to pairs of rigidly spaced forming fingers, partially forming the blanks on said fingers in one position of the latter, then alternately shifting the position of said fingers in opposite directions to receive successively partially formed blanks thereon, and then completing the formation of the blank in different positions of the fingers.

7. A process for forming a cartridge belt link having knuckles at opposite edges, said process consisting in cutting in one position a blank from a strip of material, said blank having knuckle portions located at opposite edges thereof, moving said blank from the cutting position on to a supporting die and partially forming the blank (thereon, then moving the blank from said die on t'o-fa pair of rigidlyspaced forming fingers, partially forming'the-blank on said fingers in one position, and then moving'the fingers'with the blank thereon in a direction flatwise of the blank tocomplete the formation.

8. A process for forming'a cartridge belt link 'having knuckles at oppositeedges, said process consisting in placing a blank upon the headed end of a forming die, partially forming said blank by bending it over said die with the opposite ends of the blank underneath said head, then sliding the partially formed blank edgewise on to a set of forming fingers, and then completing the formation of the link by bending upon said fingers.

9. A process for forming cartridge belt links each having knuckles at oppositeedges, said proc- *ess'consisting in placing blanks successively upon the headed end of a forming die, partially form- -ing'said blanks'by bending them over said die with the opposite ends of each blank underneath 'said head, then movingsuccessive blanks alter- Jnately on to different sets of forming fingers, "and then completing the formation of the links 1 on said fingers.

10. A process for. forming cartridge belt links each having knuckles at opposite edges, said process consisting in placing blanks successively upon the headeden-d of .a forming die,.partially forming said blanksbyibending over the end of said die with the opposite ends of the blanks underneath said head, then sliding the partially formed blanks edgewise alternately on to different sets of forming fingers, then bending the blanks successively into partially final form alternately on said sets of fingers, and; subsequently completing the formation of the links by bending them alternately'on said sets of fingers positioned alternately at opposite ends of their paths of movement.

11. A process for forming cartridge belt links having knuckles at opposite edges, said process consisting in partially forming the knuckle portions of a blank on opposite edges into partially knuckle form; simultaneously therewith completing the formation of saidknuckles on a plurality of sets of forming fingers movably mounted to alternately receive said blanks, and then removing the formed blanks fromasaid fingers.

'CORTIS F. SHERMAN. 

